The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

[Starlord]

I'm not sure what score I'll give Ultimates #1, I think I'll re-read it today.

I was going to re-read it too but opted for the less painful "putting my erect penis in a door frame and slamming the door 23 times" instead.

[Royal Nonesuch]

I'm not going to be able to review this until next week or thereabouts. Please don't kick me out of Review Group, even though I hate it because they're all Jerks!!

[Victorian Squid]

Because we've never heard of it? It's from the 1950s! My parents are too young to remember it! Only the outstanding shit like Muffin The Mule and Andy Pandy are remembered.

Pfft! Mere puppetry!

Or was Andy Pandy supermarionation?

[Eli Katz]

I was going to re-read it too but opted for the less painful "putting my erect penis in a door frame and slamming the door 23 times" instead.

That may be the definition of Hicklash.

[Starlord]

That may be the definition of Hicklash.

[Punchy]

Pfft! Mere puppetry!

Or was Andy Pandy supermarionation?

Nah, only Gerry Anderson shows are supermarionation, Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet, Joe Ninety and all that.

[guitarsmashley]

I can't wait to read a hickman comic that isn't complete setup for no reason at all. The Ultimate Universe has gone through a ton of changes over the last few years to get us to the point where this comic starts and no where is there even close to a recap, I thought all these characters were dead? They should have pulled the plug on the Ultimate U years ago like after the initial MIllar/bendis run...we've seen how they've run Spiderman into darkness...

yeah this issue is boring and a waste of time.

1

[Stephen Day]

This was alright I guess. There were parts that I liked, the scene in which Jamie Braddock starts the fight with the Asgardians being a good example. Overall though, and this might just be because I'm just not that familiar with the Ultimate Universe, there just wasn't enough there to hook me into the story. Its not bad, but its not something I'd really highly recommend either.

I'll give it a 5 out of 10.

[Punchy]

The Ultimates #1 - 'The Republic Is Burning' - Hickman, Ribic and White

Story - The Ultimates used to be one of my favourite comics. Over the course of 26 issues, Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch laid out a new template for modern superhero comics. It was relevant, it was big, and it was a lot of fun. There's a very good reason why Marvel Studios are using the Ultimates as the basis for the Avengers movie over the 616 alternative. But then the Ultimates (well, the entire Ultimate Universe apart from Spider-Man) kind of went off-track. Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum were terrible. Mark Millar's return with Ultimate Avengers just wasn't the same, and whilst New Ultimates was OK. Gone was the political satire, gone was the wide-screen action, and in it's place was something a lot like what the 616 was already giving us, but with more sex. It was clear the Ultimates needed some new blood, so enter Jonathan Hickman.

And while he hasn't quite returned the book to it's Millar/Hitch heights, the signs are good that the Ultimates are back to doing what they do best.

This issue was probably one of the most set-up heavy first issues I've ever read, and I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. It's basically a morning in the life of Nick Fury that goes catastrophically wrong. Hickman quickly sets up several big threats. There's the Asgardians, there's something fishy going on in Argentina, and something even fishier in China. Plus there's the mysterious dude on the first page, who you'll have no idea about unless you read Ultimate Fallout (OK, I'll tell you, but just between friends, it's Ultimate Reed Richards, who is totally eeeevil and his new Future Foundation, who are also totally eeeevil). That's a lot of stuff to be getting on with, and this issue only just scratches the surface. I'm sure the China plot-line will be picked up in next week's Ultimate Hawkeye mini-series, but still. Some readers may find this large amount of set-up a waste of time, but I liked it, the Ultimates should be a decompressed comic, it's what works best for it. For me, the problems with Loeb's run on the book was that too much happened and too quickly. Hickman knows that with the Ultimates he has the freedom to move at a slower pace, and takes advantage of it. I mean, the first issue of the original run was 20 pages of Captain America in WW2, it wasn't relevant to the plot, but it was awesome, this is at least plot-related.

Even in a comic which can be said to have not much happening in it, there were a few very strong scenes, my highlight was the European Super-Soldier initiative's confrontation with the Asgardians. Hickman drops out of the book at this point and let Ribic's art tell the story, and it's great stuff, the facial expressions of Thor and the new Captain Britain are wonderful. I also really liked Hickman's take on Ultimate Tony Stark, who was always my favourite Ultimate. I had worries that Hickman, whose work is normally pretty straight humourless, wouldn't be able to write the drunken lecher to Millar's high standards, but he did it.

In the end, this was a good start to the new world of Hickman's Ultimates, the book has returned to it's roots as a comic that looks at superheroes in a more realistic light, focussing on the politics and the militaristic side of things, rather than the soap opera it had become under Loeb. It's not quite perfect, as I said, not too much happens in this issue, but I expect big things to develop in the coming issues. There's even a lot less of the usual Hickman pseudo-gibberish here, it's the Ultimates, and they're back, end of story.

Art - Esad Ribic is an artist I've always liked, I loved his painted work on titles like Loki and Silver Surfer: Requiem, and I normally dislike painted comics. Then he began to do interiors, and I began to like him even more. His interiors are just great, they remind me of John Cassaday at times, but they also have their own style. As I said, he tells the silent scene between Captain Britain and Thor brilliantly, and the rest of the action is great too. It's not quite as wide-screen and photo-realistic as Bryan Hitch, but what is? He's the best fit for the Ultimates since he left, and puts Joe Mad, Frank Cho, Carlos Pacheco, Steve Dillon and Leinil Yu in the shade. Those are all great artists, but the Ultimates needs something a little different, and Ribic provides this.

Best Line - 'Redheads, old boy ... always redheads'

8/10

[HNutz]

It sucked. It really sucked.

Either nothing happened or I couldn't tell what happened...

[Punchy]

The current average is 5.04.

[Starlord]

The current average is 5.04.

Why is it that high?!

It made my penis hurt.

[guitarsmashley]

Why is it that high?!

It made my penis hurt.

like a blow job from a woman?

[Starlord]

like a blow job from a woman?

oh no, it's too small to get hurt at that point.

[Punchy]

You need to get your reviews in by tomorrow morning if you want them to be in the article!